Empty
by littlemisslovelygood
Summary: Where has Annie gone? she's back from her time in the arena...but she's not really here


**i love finnick and annie...i dont think they get enough appreciation or credit. they loved each other, and even though she went slightly mad after her Games, he never gave up on her. THAT is love. how many of you would have given up on someone like that after a little while? i think finnick gets a lot of hate, since he kissed katniss after offering her a sugar cube at the chariots. people also think he's very arrogant and selfish, but in the end i admire him. sold as a sex-slave into the capitol and not letting it change who he is...that takes courage. they come from my district and i truly think they deserve something. he died when she was pregnant with his child. seriously suzanne? you coulnt have been more cruel, especially to annie. he was the only one who could call her back to the real world when she would zone out, or have flashbacks and cup her hands over her ears feeling the pain of her time in the arena. im sorry if you guys dont care, but this is how i feel and what i think...this fanfic was inspired by finnick and annie, which is a video series on youtube by Mainstaypro...its amazing. all you finnick haters: go watch it. it will make you cry. i loved it, and based this story off of it**

Annie…Annie…Annie, Annie, Annie! I open my eyes with a start—I must have dozed off watching the waves. Annie is coming home tomorrow! I look around at the beach where her and I have sat many times, made bets, talked, played and laughed. All of our best memories come flooding back to me and I smile, more then excited to have my best friend back home in District Four. I run to the water and dive headfirst into the sea's welcoming arms, thinking of when I taught Annie how to swim. I'm so glad she agreed to let me; she really needed it…

Annie in The Games… I watched her everyday, dodging obstacles and opponents, coming so close to death so many times…until the Game-maker's dam broke and flooded the arena. That was how she won—she was the best swimmer. I am more than proud of her. She made it back home, back to me…

I lie awake all that night, thinking of the girl I love, of my best friend, of the victor, and of the one thing that's kept me sane since my Games. I wonder if any of this has changed her…well that's a stupid thing to wonder, of course it's changed her! But no matter what, she is still my Annie. I will never leave her side, hurt her or abandon her. And even if she doesn't return the feelings, I will always love her…

I must have fallen asleep at some point, because when I wake up it is well into the morning. I jump out of bed, put on clothes and run full speed towards the beach—our rendezvous point. I stop and pick a flower for her, then continue on to the ocean's side.

She is there, sitting in the sand. Annie! I almost fall flat on my face in my excitement to see her. I walk up next to her and sit down…but something is off. She doesn't acknowledge me, look my way, say or do anything at all. She just sits and stares out at the ocean. _"Annie, where have you gone?"_ I think, feeling on the verge of tears. Even though she is sitting right beside me, I feel her warmth and hear her breathing; it's like she is not here at all. The place where her presence should be is empty…. I can't help but fear that I've lost her…

"Hey Annie," I say, and brush the hair off her face, sticking the crimson flower behind her ear. She does nothing, just continues to stare out at the horizon. I said I wouldn't abandon her, leave her side, and I wont. I will wait here until she returns, and will welcome her back with open arms.

All night I stay there with her, except when I leave to get wood, a fishing pole and a blanket. I built a fire and caught fish for us to eat. She doesn't have any, but I leave some for her incase she wants it. I give her my shirt when she starts shaking slightly from the cool breezes that keep blowing by and wait for something to happen. A nod, a glance from her, a thank you, just anything to prove that she isn't gone forever; that The Games haven't traumatized her to numbness; that she is still in there somewhere… eventually she leans back onto the blanket and closes her eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep. I stay awake and watch her all night, looking for some sign that she is ok, though none comes.

This happens every day for the next few days. I come bearing a flower that I put in her hair, fish and wrap her in the blanket. She continues to sit there in a blank trance—wallowing in the nothingness, the emptiness of it all, and looking very small and vulnerable. I greet her every time with the same "Hey Annie," and hope that she responds…she never does.

Today I walk up behind her as usual, sit next to her and say quietly, "Hey Annie." I wonder if she can hear the pain in my voice from losing her, my desperation to have her back…I wonder if she can tell how much I love her from it. I push the hair off her face gently and stick the purple flower behind her ear, tears threatening to spill over again. I will never give up on her…I promise that, and Finnick Odair doesn't make promises he doesn't intend to keep. I told Annie that once, when I was going into The Games, when she made me promise to return to her. Usually the memory brings a smile to my face, but not today.

We sit in silence again for another few moments before I hear it. She said it without looking at me or regarding me in anyway, and her voice was barely a whisper of its melodic tone. I looked at her amazed, sure I was dreaming. But no, I heard it. The first time she has spoken to me since her arrival, and I felt hope and joy swell up in my chest at these two words that had escaped her lips.

"Hey Fin."


End file.
